Dallas Mavericks Blog

LeBron James discusses the Heat’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 6:

Q. LeBron, given your performances late in games in these Finals, what’s your assessment of your ability to play well under pressure?
LeBRON JAMES: I mean, sometimes you got it, sometimes you don’t. And that was this case in this series. I was able to do things in the last two series to help us win ballgames. Wasn’t able to do that in this series. Once you get to the playoffs, every game is pressure. You want to win. You have to win. And I mean, we’ve seen some of that in the Chicago series, we seen some of that in the Boston series. Even though we lost Game 4, we lost Game 4 in Philly, there’s pressure in that series as well.
So it doesn’t matter which round it is. Once you get to the postseason, every possession counts.

Q. LeBron, what in this Finals round were you personally unable to do that you wanted to do?
LeBRON JAMES: Live in the paint. They did a great job of every time I drove, they brought another extra defender in front of me. They did a great job defensively. Very underrated defensive team. Took me out of a lot of things that I’m capable of doing or used to doing. It took us out of a lot of things we’re capable of doing, that’s getting points to the paint and getting to the free throw line. So they did a good job. Much respect to them.

Q. Considering all that you went through this past summer and all the effort you made to get here to specifically win a championship, what are your emotions losing The Finals now?
LeBRON JAMES: It hurts of course. I’m not going to hang my head low. I know how much work as a team we put into it. I know how much work individually that I’ve put into it, when you guys are not around. That’s something people don’t see. I think you can never hang your head low when you know how much work, how much dedication you put into the game of basketball when the lights are off and the cameras are not on.

Q. LeBron, obviously you’ve dealt with so much criticism for the last year that wasn’t at all to do with basketball. When you’re getting criticized for what’s happening on the court, does that bother you?
LeBRON JAMES: No, that doesn’t bother me. I understand this is a huge stage, and you want to perform well for nobody else besides your teammates. That’s ultimately what it’s about for me. If I can play well for my teammates, help my teammates win basketball games, then I’m always satisfied with that. It hurts me, and I get on myself when I’m not able to play well and help my teammates win.

Q. Does it bother you that so many people are happy to see you fail?
LeBRON JAMES: Absolutely not. Because at the end of the day, all the people that was rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today. They have the same personal problems they had today. I’m going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want to do with me and my family and be happy with that.
They can get a few days or a few months or whatever the case may be on being happy about not only myself, but the Miami Heat not accomplishing their goal, but they have to get back to the real world at some point.

Q. LeBron, with all the pressure, the criticism, the expectations, did it ever get to a point where it just weighed heavy and affected you in any way?
LeBRON JAMES: I don’t think so. I pretty much don’t listen to what everybody has to say about me or my game or what I’ve done with my career. I don’t get involved in that. This is year after year after year for me. Me as an individual, people write or say what they want to say about me. It doesn’t weigh on me at all.
Like I said, the only thing that weighs on me is when I don’t perform well for my teammates and the guys that I play for every day. That’s the only thing that weighs on me. Because I take pride in going out there and doing the things that need to be done to help my teammates win. That’s it.

Q. What was going through your mind entering the fourth quarter knowing you guys had that hole to get out of? What was your mentality?
LeBRON JAMES: Honestly, it was about fourth quarter defense and trying to get buckets. We got into a good groove to start the fourth. I think J.J. Barea’s three at the end of the shot clock was a huge shot. Put them up seven. That was a huge shot. I think it was 81 77 at that time. He hit a shot, the three at the end of the shot clock. We played defense 23 straight great defense for 23 straight seconds and he hit a shot like that. So it took a little bit out of us. You don’t want to dig a hole like that against anyone. Especially on your home floor going into the fourth.

Q. LeBron, we know it’s a team game and a team loss, but we know the player you are. We’ve seen the things you’ve done. We know the aspirations you have. Do you take this as a personal failing?
LeBRON JAMES: Any time you feel like you get to the top of the mountain and you fall off, there’s definitely a personal failure. It was a failure in ’07 when we lost to the Spurs when I was in Cleveland, it’s a failure now for myself losing to the Mavericks. Absolutely.

Q. LeBron, I know this may be tough to think about, but right now what do you feel like it’s going to take for you to win a championship?
LeBRON JAMES: I can only prepare myself each year. In the summertime I’ll put a lot of hard work into my individual game, try to bring my individual game to a team, and I work hard every day as an individual to go out there and perform at a high level for my teammates and for myself. I got close. Won two more games than I did in ’07, and hopefully next time I get here I’ll win two more games than I did in ’11.

Q. LeBron, you were a closer in the Chicago series, probably the best player in the NBA. No offense, Dwyane. Everyone is going to figure out or try to figure out what happened in these fourth quarters in terms of not closing like you did in the East Finals. What was the reason for that? And in terms of lacking your usual aggression, the way it appeared, everything okay off the court in terms of distractions or anything like that?
LeBRON JAMES: I’ve been in this league eight years. There’s no distractions that can stop me from trying to chase an NBA championship. Not you guys, not anything that goes on that’s not focused on my team and my teammates and what we’re out there what we’re out set to do. Like I said before, I work hard to try to put myself in position to play at a high level. When you go out on the court, does the ball always go in? Absolutely not. But the one thing I know, I never hold my head low in saying, I didn’t do it the right way or I wish I would have did this. It’s not about that.
I put a lot of hard work into this season individually. We all did. So we have nothing to hang our heads low. Just use this as an extra motivation to help myself become a better player for next year.